A Dirge for Courage
by Omarou
Summary: When Talon, a young and troubled recruit in District 1's training center, is picked to volunteer, he has but one purpose. To return victorious and punish those who have wronged him. Follow his journey as he transforms from street rat to soldier to champion. Rated T for violent scenes (it's The Hunger Games people).
1. Prologue

**_Author's Note: Hi everyone. My name is Omarou and this is my first fanfic. I always enjoyed reading Hunger Games Stories with single OC viewpoints and one day it struck me: Why don't I write my own story? Eventually, after much brainstorming, my thoughts gave birth to A Dirge for Courage. I hope you all take the time to read it and please review/comment. All negative feedback is welcomed. I must inform you all that this story may take a long time to finish as I also have a life (yes really I do) which involves a job, university, sports, family etc as well as the fact that a writer needs inspiration which can take time to strike. Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. That honor belongs to Suzanne Collins. Anway, without further ado, I give you A Dirge for Courage!_**

Prologue

Deep in the recesses of District 1, home of luxuries and ornaments of the Capitol, a young boy was running frantically down one of the many side-alleys of the city. The signs of death and decay caused by malnourishment were already clear on his body despite his youth. His cheekbones were clearly visible and his ever-shifting, hazel eyes seemed to be shrunken into his face. As he sprinted down the shadowy and winding path, his dark, long hair whipped around his face and he gasped furiously, desperately trying to fuel his burning lungs with oxygen to escape his pursuers. The pursuers in question were three large men, each of whom carried large batons which boded ominously for the boy. Their eyes burned with fury and their hands clenched in eagerness to punish this fool who had dared to rob them.

The boy, whose name was Talon, took two right turns and one left before ducking into a small back-alley which was illuminated only by a dim fog light. He collapsed against the wall and slid with his back along it, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. As he was trying to recover, he held up the small loaf of bread that he had managed to sneak out of the bakery to his eyes and reflected on the heavy price that he would pay for stealing it if the men found him. He had gone around the whole District during the day, but could not find any place that was going to be easy enough for him to rob without being detected. Finally, Talon had settled on thieving from the local bakery which, in itself, was problematic. The owner of the shop was rumored to be a vicious low-life who commonly dealt in illegal goods and used his bakery as a cover up for his real work. Naturally, Talon was hesitant to steal from such a man, but desperate circumstances required desperate measures which lead to his stealing the bread for which the men were chasing him. The bread itself was not particularly appetizing or nutritious. To the contrary, it was hard and cold, but, seeing as Talon hadn't eaten in days, he wasn't going to pass it up. He ripped the bread into small chunks and ravenously stuffed it in his mouth, all the while carefully keeping watch for the men who were sent to track him down. Suddenly, the sound of rough voices arguing resounded in the narrow alleys from whence he had come. He trembled as he felt the cold hand of fear tighten around his heart and he began to move silently backwards out of the alley.

"Where do you think he went?" rasped a rough, nasal voice.

"Where do you think, you fool? He obviously ran here so he could lose us in these side streets. These filthy street rats know everything about these dirty, dank places." snapped an irate, cold voice. "Spread out the both of you and search every place you can think of, until you find the little bastard."

"And once we do find him?" said a third voice, barely keeping the excitement he was feeling at the prospect of beating a young boy out of his tone.

"Well, let's just say he'll be wishing he had died of starvation instead of stealing from me." replied the second voice which obviously belonged to the leader of this trio as well as the brains of the outfit.

Talon gulped at their words and began to quicken his exit from the alley when, all of a sudden, his foot caught on a trash can cover. The metal made a shrill screeching sound as it scraped against the floor which he immediately knew would echo throughout the alleyways.

"That must be the boy!"

"Don't just stand there you idiots, go, run, get him!"

Talon knew by then that there was no point in him hiding anymore and broke out into a full out sprint. His muscles burned and screamed from the exertions but he could not stop. If those men caught him…it would not matter how young or pitiful he looked. They would beat him like a dog and leave him for dead.

"There he is! Get him!" shouted the first, rough voiced man just as Talon approached the mouth of the alley and safety. Outside of these alleys, they could not hurt him in front of the public of District 1. The citizens would not prevent them from punishing Talon for stealing, but they would at least stop them from beating him to a bloody pulp.

With hope rising in his chest, Talon pumped his legs harder to get away from the men and on to safety. Even the pain in his legs had faded as adrenaline seared through his veins and numbed his body to pain. It even seemed to him as if the exit to the alley was shining. As if God had sent him a sign that he would be protected and safe from harm if he just managed to reach that small exit.

_ Thud._ A fist slammed into his stomach just as he was about to exit the alleys and escape into the crowds that were just outside. Talon was sent reeling across the alley floor and began to retch as the effects of the fight-or-flight response began to ebb away.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little street brat who thought that he could steal from me without facing any consequences." drawled the man who had struck him and, based on Talon's inability to move his chest, broken at least two of his ribs. "Don't you know that stealing is punishable by maiming here in District 1? By law, I can chop off the upper arm of your favored side, you rat."

Talon's mouth dried up and he gulped in fear as he imagined himself living without his right hand. Instinctively, he buried it in the folds of his filthy, brown shirt in a feeble attempt to conceal it from the man in front of him. He had seen men who had stolen and been punished. In District 1, they were not only handicapped physically, but socially as well. No one would trade or hire a person who had stolen due to the social stigma of associating with a criminal. Talon knew that if that happened to him, the very little he had in life would quickly ebb away and he would die in less than a week.

"Please sir, I didn't want to steal. It's just that...It…It's been so long since I ate that I was starving and I couldn't help myself…."

_ Smack._ Talon was silenced by a vicious, backhanded slap by the man in front of him.

"Shut up, you runt! You think I care about you and your hunger? I don't even care about that lousy piece of bread that you took. No. What bothers me is that you thought you could just waltz into my shop and take whatever you pleased. You filthy street rats are all the same, always trying to take me for all that I have. Well not anymore. 'Cause when the others see what's happened to you, they'll think a hundred times before even coming near my shop." As he was saying this, the two men who had been chasing had crept up behind him, grabbed his arms and forced him to his knees.

Talon's heart sank to his stomach as the man in front of him pulled out a small switch knife and began whistling to himself as he approached him. Talon kicked and flailed, begged and pleaded, shouted and screamed, all to no avail. Now that he was close enough to see the maniacal look in the mafioso's eyes, he knew that there had been no hope, no point in begging at all. This man was a clear sadist from the joy that was emanating in his eyes and the smile that graced his lips as he looked upon Talon.

"From now on, no thief will ever dare to approach my shop after they see what's happened to you. Nobody even cares what happens to you street brats so this works out perfectly for everyone." Without warning, the man quickly slashed his blade along the left side of Talon's face, from the side of his eye, down to his chin. Talon screamed and screamed, unable to feel anything but a searing, agonizing fire on the left side of his face. Dimly, he felt himself fall to the ground as he clutched his face and saw crimson blood coat his hands. He could hear the men saying something and laughing as they walked away, leaving him for dead. He sobbed silently as he tried to stem the blood flowing from his face with his shirt, but it would not stop. For every river he wiped off of his face, an ocean would quickly replace it. He could feel himself slowly fading away and he registered that the blood loss was going to make him fall unconscious. As he drifted away, he saw an angel, brilliantly illuminated with holy light, reaching out, cradling him and raising him off the dank, dirty alley floor before he fell unconscious.


	2. Reflection

_Shtick! Clang! Clang! _

Talon leapt backwards away from the sword fighting instructor; reeling from the blow he had been dealt. His face contorted into a sharp grimace as he noted the large bruise which was forming on his chest where the instructor had struck him

"Come on boy, I haven't got forever" sneered Davos, the sword fighting master.

The pale 17-year old shook with anger at the slight but forced his temper down as he circled his opponent and took in his options. If he went toe-to-toe with Davos in a duel, he'd get his backside handed to him. Blessed with both the characteristic good looks and physical prowess of a warrior, he was the pride and joy of District 1. He had long blond hair which fell over his shoulders, blue eyes that reflected the colour of the sky and the broad chest and shoulders that came with endless hours of sword fighting practice. Hailed as the finest swordsman to ever emerge from the district, Davos was all too willing to bask in the people's admiration. His talent was such that the training centre forbade him from volunteering as they refused to run the risk of losing the greatest swordsman they had ever produced and, instead, put him to work training potential tributes in order to maximize their chances of winning. Talon harboured no high hopes of defeating him, especially not with a broadsword. He was highly talented in fighting with dual blades due to him being ambidextrous, but his low weight and small physical stature made wielding larger weapons virtually suicide.

Talon swung his broadsword in a vicious uppercut in an attempt to catch him off-guard, but Davos was too experienced for that. In one fluid motion, he sidestepped the stroke and slammed his hilt into Talon's wrist. He gasped in pain and clutched his wrist while his broadsword clattered against the ground as it went flying out of his grasp. However, Davos was not finished. With a guttural roar he delivered a roundhouse kick to Talon's solar plexus to knock him into the ground and held his sword to Talon's neck.

"Yield, you pathetic excuse of a tribute trainee!" he spat as he pressed his sword harder against Talon's neck until dark, scarlet droplets of blood oozed from the point of contact.

"Ok. Ok. I yield. Are you happy now?" Talon shouted as he pushed the sword away from his neck with the palm of his hand. The teenagers recruited by District 1 to train for the Hunger Games were divided into different classes based on their characteristics. Smaller, more agile warriors like Talon were classed as lightweights and instructed in the use of weapons which allowed them to take advantage of their nimbleness and dexterity such as dual swords or knives. Davos knew this, but still insisted on fighting Talon with larger weapons which frustrated him to no end.

"No, actually I'm not. You think you're entitled to special treatment because you have some skill with two fancy _gladiī_. You don't. What happens in the arena when all you can find are long swords and axes?" Davos mocked him by twisting the pronunciation of the two short Roman blades that he knew Talon favoured.

"District 1 is always a part of the Career pack. We always have access to all and any weapons we desire. Even the final showdowns which involve our tributes traditionally have each tribute fighting it out with their favoured weapons. So I think this is less about you wanting to get me as prepared as possible and more about how you're afraid that one of us lowly _tribute trainees_ will show you up and prove that you aren't so great after all!" Talon knew he had gone too far, but it was much too satisfying to put Davos in his place for once. He was barely older than reaping age, but he still lorded it over all of the trainees as if he were Dux Ducis of the training centre which he was far from becoming.

Only silence greeted him as the swords master fumed over his disrespectful manner. The only sign of his rising anger was the dark flush in his cheeks and the trembling of his fingers on the hilt of his long sword. When he spoke again, it was in the cold, quiet way in which he addressed people who had made him extremely angry. It was the deep breathe before the plunge, the calm before the storm.

"You think that you're a match for me. You think that you know better than the people who instructed me on how to train people to fight with all the different types of swords. Well, I'll humour you, just this once, to show you how wrong you are. You see, I can fight with any sword, in any style, and still best my opponent. So now I invite you to show me your worth. You can take your choice of weapons and, as a bargain, I'll even let you choose mine." he said quietly.

"Looks like I'm really in it now," thought Talon. He had only seen the sword master this angry twice before and both cases had ended with extreme humiliation and bodily harm to the ones who had brought out his inner fury. However, the other five trainees who were to be the finalists in the selection of the 31st Hunger Games tributes had gathered around the two and were murmuring eagerly about the result of the confrontation. He barely overheard one of the boys betting that Talon would back down and get slapped with toilet cleaning duty for the next month as well as being omitted from the selection of the boy volunteers for the Hunger Games. And Talon had a lot more riding on that then honor.

"Alright, I'll fight with two _gladiī _and you can have your long sword." he huffed, certain that he would at least match Davos for a while during their duel; such was his skill with dual blades. He collected the two _gladiī_ from a rack containing all different types of swords. Dirks, rapiers, bastard swords, every type of sword in existence was present in the District 1 training centre who prided themselves on being one of the Career districts. Talon zoomed in on two golden short swords which were laying side-by-side, the Roman _gladiī_. According to Davos, these swords were used by warriors of a culture long ago in large arenas for the entertainment of the people.

The two warriors circled each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Talon had his swords in a defensive stance, one sword raised, one sword bowed. Davos gripped his sword with both hands; a gesture Talon recognized was to allow him to deliver stronger blows and faster strikes. He knew he had to be wary from Davos' superior range as his dual swords required him to be close enough to deliver rapid strikes in order to overwhelm his opponent. If he could not get close to Davos, this fight was as good as done.

Abruptly, Davos stopped pacing and struck a quick blow to Talon's right side which was swiftly parried with one of Talon's blades and countered with a downward slash towards Davos' knees with the other. Davos jumped to escape the hit and brought his blade downwards, aiming to slam his sword into Talon's chest. Talon dropped to his feet and rolled to the right before he got his chest caved in. The swords in the centre were all blunted in order to avoid fatal injury, but a blow such as that would be enough to take Talon out of the fight as well as a few weeks of action. The two fighters continued to exchange blows in a similar fashion, Davos engaging and delivering strong strikes with Talon dodging and countering with lightning speed, until Talon made the mistake of trying to block an uppercut with both _gladiī_ crossed over Davos' long sword. That move pitted his strength against Davos' and he would surely lose that battle. Davos pressed downwards with his blade, his blue eyes gleaming as he sensed the nearness of victory. Talon's forehead shone with sweat and his shoulders shook as he fought to maintain the effort required to keep the long sword away from him.

Without warning, the pressure on Talon's swords ceased and Davos slammed his right fist into Talon's jaw in a searing uppercut. Talon flew backwards and crashed into the training centre floor with bright lights flashing across his line of sight. He groaned painfully as he felt his jaw begin to swell and he realized that Davos must have taken his right hand off the sword and, with Talon still preoccupied with the force he was applying with his left hand, used that opening to end the contest. Faintly, he could make out the sound of cheering as the other trainees congratulated Davos on his great performance and how there was never any doubt about who would win the duel. Talon ground his teeth in frustration. He still wasn't strong enough. If Davos could beat him with a single blow, then what chance would he have in the arena where he might have to face multiple opponents, each of whom might be stronger and bigger than him.

"Hey Talon, are you alright? You look a little dazed, that hit must have really done a number on you huh? An airy voice interrupted his thoughts as he looked up to see one of the ditsiest girls he had ever met, Courtney Brooks. Short, shallow and superficial — these were the first words that sprung to his mind when he had met her. Overly optimistic and cheery to a fault, she was always worrying about the most mundane of affairs. Whether her red hair was better in a braid or flowing loosely on her shoulders. Whether her eyes were better in their true emerald green colour or hazel brown using contacts. How she irked him. The only aspect of her that warranted some semblance of respect from him was her ability to throw knives with deadly precision. She had trained since youth as a career, just like the others, and had perfected her aim so that she could shoot 20 bulls-eyes in under a minute from 30 yards out.

"Yes Courtney, I'm fine." said Talon through clenched teeth as he began to sit up, grumbling as the multiple injuries he had sustained began to take their toll on him.

"Are you sure? Because I can go get you some ice if you need to put it on your jaw…"

"I told you, I'm fine!" growled Talon, growing visibly infuriated by her attempts to help him. She was completely oblivious to the fact that she was making him feel even worse through her coddling and fussing over him.

"Well you don't need to snap at me, I'm just trying to help." Courtney pouted at him and went over to stand next to the other two girls in the program, Alanna and Sapphire. They were more serious and dedicated than Courtney and it was no small secret that they were far more likely to become District 1's tribute for the coming 31st Hunger Games. Alanna, along with Courtney, was cut from the same cloth as Talon, both lightweight fighters but Alanna was more geared towards the bow and arrow. Sapphire, on the other hand, was purely a heavyweight fighter. Standing at 6 foot 4 and weighing 200 pounds, she was a colossus of a woman. Her favored weapon was a brutal, spiked mace which Talon had seen her use to dent thick steel with her devastating strength. He sincerely hoped that, if he got picked to volunteer for the games, he would never have to come up against her. As for the two boys who were betting against Talon, their names were Roy and Jax. Roy was a jack of all trades and had no favored weapon. He could fight equally well with swords, maces, bow and arrows, knives or any weapon present in the training center. He himself was at a loss to explain this odd phenomenon which, despite its obvious benefits, also had its disadvantages. Roy could not match the proficiency of any of the other trainees with their favored weapons regardless of whichever weapon he wielded. This meant that the odds of him being chosen as the next male tribute were negligible. He knew he was simply there to make up the numbers but didn't seem too upset about it. Roy was always upbeat and optimistic, trying to do the best with what he had. In Talon's opinion, someone like that shouldn't enter the games anyway. As for Jax, he was the trainee favored to become tribute for this coming year. His fighting style was a hybrid between light and heavyweight. He not only possessed the physical strength required to wield swords, axes and maces but also the nimbleness and agility to manipulate bow and arrows, knives and spears. Furthermore, he was also the best fighter between the trio of males in hand-to-hand combat and when he wielded a hand-and-a-half sword, he became an unstoppable juggernaut of damage and devastation. The only problem with Jax was that he was sullen and angry all the time. The instructors were hesitant to send someone like that into the Games where personality was a large factor in deciding the victor. Sponsors, the victor's fate after the games, the fame and favor bestowed upon the District—all of these depended on a tribute's ability to hook sponsors with a winning personality which Jax evidently lacked. However, seeing as he was the best all round fighter they had, the instructors were willing to risk sending him in so he was a narrow favorite.

Talon shook himself as he sluggishly got on his feet, a frown marring his disfigured face which had never completely recovered from the slash he had received all those years ago. He slowly walked over to Davos and stretched out his hand as a peace offering.

"It was a good fight. I'm sorry I questioned you, it won't happen again."

Taking Talon's hand and smiling gracefully at him, he replied, "Aye, it better not." He handed his sword off to Talon to return to the rack and as a sign that he was dismissed.

Talon took the long sword and the two _gladiī _and went on his way to return them. The room they were in was the main area for training within the center and by far the largest. It was roughly 40x40 meters and had three training areas: a specialized area for practicing archery and other long range weapons as well as a carpeted area for training hand-to-hand combat. The last and most popular one was the sword fighting section that Davos and the trainees were occupying. The room itself was dull and completely identical to the other rooms which were used for storage and offices for the instructors, painted grey and adorned only with portraits of past victors of District 1. With any luck, Talon hoped his would be the latest face to grace these halls.

Once the swords had been returned to their rightful places, Talon began making his way over to the doorway when he heard Jax's voice, in all its unruly and uncultured glory:

"You've got to be kidding me! That idiot plays it like a smart-ass and gets creamed when you duel him, but now he's got the day free! This just ain't right!

Talon burned with anger at the other boy's words and walked over quickly to Jax. "What did you call me?" he whispered softly

Jax said mockingly, "I called you an idiot cause that's what you are. What? Do you have hearing problems now? Am I going to have to repeat…

He was interrupted by a punch to the left side of his face which knocked him to the floor. Talon was just preparing to lay into him and beat his face into a pulp when he felt himself being thrown backwards. He rolled gracefully back onto his feet only to see Davos going red with anger again.

"I thought I dismissed you and gave you leave! The last thing I need from you is a brawl with another potential tribute after all that you've done today. Clear out! Get to the showers and I don't want to see your face until next week when we have final tryouts!" Davos yelled in his face.

Behind Davos, Jax was making a slicing gesture at his throat to him and Talon replied in kind with an obscene gesture of his own. He turned and made his way out of the training room. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the girls looking at him coldly, judging him, and Courtney shaking her head at him in disappointment. Well they could all go to hell for all he cared. Who were they to judge him? They had all seen Jax provoke him and that was that. Besides, none of them had gone through what he had so they had no right to judge him.

Talon walked without really thinking of where he was going until he found himself in the locker room. Each trainee had their own locker to store their clothes and personal effects. Only Courtney had deigned to decorate her locker, colored butterflies and red rose stickers plastered all over the face of it. How a girl like her had gotten into the program was beyond him. He pulled a grey sweater and black pants and underwear to change into and entered the shower. Once he was done with his business, he examined his reflection in the mirror. Despite him being slender in shape, he had wiry muscles bulging under the surface of his skin, a benefit of the years of training and conditioning he had put his body through. His skin was a rosy pale color and his hair was a russet brown. He supposed that he could have been considered good looking had it not been for the massive, pink scar ranging from the left of his eye down to his chin and the swelling on his jaw, courtesy of Davos' fist. However, his hand lingered upon the hideous scar and lost himself in his memories. He still remembered the day after he had been attacked as if it were yesterday.

(Flashback)

_ Pain. That was all that he could feel. Scorching, all-encompassing pain from his upper torso and face. He opened his eyes to see a white ceiling in front of him and found himself lying in a moveable bed. The room he was in was almost completely bare, with only a few monitors and an IV drip hooked up to his arm keeping him company. Well that explained why he wasn't feeling any hunger or thirst. He could smell a pungent odor of rubbing alcohol and disinfectant which threatened to choke him if he spent too long in this room._

_ Suddenly, the room's door opened to reveal a pretty young nurse dressed in the customary uniform of white overalls and a white hat. Evidently, by the way her mouth opened and remained so, they (whoever was taking care of him) did not expect him to be awake that quickly. She quickly composed herself and began speaking to him as she approached the bed._

_ "Well hello there. My name is Nurse Agnes and I'm one of the people who've been taking care of since you were brought in last night." said the young nurse. "You gave us an awful fright when you came in, but thankfully the damage was only skin deep on your face and your floating ribs were bruised, but no breakage or fractures at all. Are you feeling better today?"_

_ Talon nodded silently, not trusting himself to speak to this nurse who seemed too nice to be real. Maybe she wanted something from him in exchange for fixing him up. He reached up to his face and was surprised when Nurse Agnes gripped his arm. He looked up at her to see her shaking her head with a sad expression on her face._

_ "I don't think you should do that dear. We tried our best to heal the damage, but I'm afraid there's going to be quite a bit of permanent scarring." She said softly._

_ Talon relaxed his arm and brought it back down to the bed as he took in her words. So he was going to be permanently disfigured. All because a malicious man had taken it into his head to harm him and 'send a message' as he put it. His fists clenched painfully as angry, vengeful thoughts burned through his mind. One day he would find the man who did this to him and make him pay for it with his life. _

_ Nurse Agnes apparently seemed oblivious to the fire raging within Talon as she cheerfully chattered on about how a medical team had been alerted by a nearby pedestrian and had rushed to save him. Well, so much for the angel that he had seen. It was probably just a hallucination brought on by the blood loss. He must have seen the white clothes of the medical team and his imagination did the rest. He was interrupted from his inner thoughts by Nurse Agnes who asked him about his parents._

_ "Dead." he said quietly. Talon could remember very little about his parents as he was barely older than 4 years old when they had died. Killed in an accident the police had said. The police had placed in him in a foster home but he could tell that the parents didn't really love him and the other kids despised him for taking up their space so he ran away. Time caught up with him and here he was again going to the orphanage or, at best, another foster home. It was then that he had made the decision that he was going to become a tribute for the Hunger Games. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain. As a victor, he would have the money and influence to find the man who had maimed him. If he died, well his life wasn't really worth much anyway. He would live in the orphanage up until the time he volunteered and returned victorious. 7 years in an orphanage was a small price to pay for the chance to get his vengeance. For the first time since he had awoken, he smiled to himself and saw hope in the future._

(End of flashback)

Now, 6 years after he had woken up in that hospital room, he was closer than ever to achieving his goals. He was one of the finalists in the selection of the volunteer for the 31st Hunger Games having passed through all of the tests and eliminatory procedures that were assigned to select the best of the best in the recruits of the training center. All that was left was the final tryout where he would have to fight both Roy and Jax in a free for all battle. The winner of that mêlée would be selected to volunteer in the 31st Hunger Games. He smiled, just as he had smiled 6 years ago, at how close he was to his goal and he knew in his heart that he would not fail.

_**Author's Note: Hey everyone. That's all for this chapter. Hope you liked it and **__**please review or comment anyway if you liked, hated or didn't care about it and say why. All negative feedback is welcomed and appreciated. **__**Next up is the final mêlée and the selection of the final tribute for the 31st Hunger Games. So long.**_

_**P.S Latin and uncommon words are explained below:**_

**_Gladiī: For those who didn't get it, they're a type of sword commonly used by legionaries of the Roman army but they became popular with Gladiators in the Colosseum. _**

_**Hand-and-a-half sword: Is a blade whose length is such that it allows the user to use it with one or two hands effectively.**_


	3. Conflict

_**Author's note: Hi everyone. I know that it's taken me a long time to upload this chapter, but I've been really busy this past week. What with coming but to university and preparing for my job this semester as a tutor, I've been utterly swamped and so I couldn't upload the chapter until today. I just want to include a small side note. I've been noticing that there are a lot of visitors who are not commenting or reviewing the story. Of course I don't write for reviews, but the reason why I upload this story on fanfiction is for others' enjoyment as well as their criticism so I can improve my writing. It doesn't matter if you have positive or negative feedback, both are equally appreciated so please review!**_

Talon lunged out of his bed, gasping as he sought to catch his breath. He had just awoken from a vivid dream of the night when the Mafioso had brutally disfigured him. In these nightmares, he could still see the look of evil enjoyment on the man's face as he approached him with the switch blade. He could still feel the ice-cold blade as it ripped past his cheek. Whenever he had these dreams, he felt weak and powerless, as if no time had passed and he was still a feeble, frightened boy being assaulted. Hearing an unnaturally fast pounding in his ears, he placed his hand on his bare chest and felt his heart jackhammering within his torso. Worried and seeking to calm himself, he closed his eyes and began to take deep breathes. Breathe in and out. In and out.

Slowly, but surely, his body began to relax as it realized that there was no danger and he stretched out on the bed again. It was a ritual he had perfected over the years. Early on, in the days after he had been attacked, he used to wake from his night terrors screaming and sobbing in anguish and fear. He used to disturb all of the other children in the orphanage who used to stare at him with wide, terrified eyes as they tried to imagine what kind of experiences Talon must have had to affect him so. However, those days were long gone and now, the orphanage never awoke in the middle of the night to Talon's outbursts. He was no longer young and afraid. He was no longer lost and unsure of himself and who he was, for today was the day of the final tryout. Today he would face Roy and Jax in an all-out mêlée to determine whether or not he would achieve the goal he was working towards all these years. He only hoped it would be enough to win.

Stretching his legs and arms, he swung himself off the bed so that he was sitting on it with his feet on the floor. Judging from past experiences, sleep would be hard to come by after one of his nightmares and, if he returned to his bed, he would be in for a fitful number of hours of tossing and turning which he would rather not do. He pulled back the dusty curtains located at the edge of the room and peered out of the small window that looked out upon the District 1 slums. Dawn had yet to break as was clear from the darkness that hung over the streets and the fact that none of the many shops which were located along the alley were open yet. The city was still asleep and it would probably remain so for at least another hour judging from how dark it was outside.

Deciding that there was no point hanging around inside the house as he was unlikely to get any sleep, he resolved to take a walk around the district. Taking care not to disturb the two children who were also sleeping in the room, he put on his training uniform, a two piece outfit which was black and emblazoned with red marks along the sides, and tip-toed to the main entrance to the orphanage. Once outside, he put on his running shoes and began jogging down the streets, his shoes making a soft _pitter-patter_ sound as he went. On nights like these, he enjoyed taking a stroll and having the whole street to himself while he lost himself in his thoughts. There would be no pedestrians looking at him with pity or whispering to themselves about how the poor boy was not only disfigured, but also had no parents to take care of him and was confined to the local orphanage. He hated the way people looked down upon him and saw him, not as a human being with feelings, ambitions and desires, but only as an object of pity, an example to hold up in front of their children to show how lucky and blessed they were. He supposed that it was to be expected from the district that produced only superfluous goods. They would only look at the outward appearance of things without sparing a thought to what was inside them.

However, Talon had discovered some people who were not as ignorant and judgmental as most of the other people within District 1. This included Ruby; the caretaker in the orphanage who did not care that Talon was an orphan and treated him as an equal. The orphanage itself was a small house, barely more than an apartment with six different rooms. One was used as a kitchen, one as a bathroom, one as a living room and eating area and three rooms were used as bedrooms. It was run by old and wizened Ruby who had been running it for over 30 years now. She was a thoughtful and caring woman who empathized with the young children and did her best to provide them with a safe place to call home. Ruby was one of the most genuine and sincere people he had ever met and he often wondered why she had never married. She probably wanted to devote her time to the poor and needy so she wouldn't have had time for a husband. Talon sometimes felt amazed that such people existed and, when he thought of Ruby, he began to think that maybe the world wasn't such an evil place after all and whether he could become like her, loved and admired by all. However, all he had to do was look in a mirror to remember the evil of man and his true purpose in life. Vengeance.

Suddenly, someone stepped out of the shadows of the alley they had been hiding in and stretched their arms towards him. Talon's training kicked in and he swiftly grabbed one of the arms extending towards him, bent it backwards and pushed his assailant onto the wall. As they made contact with the wall, he noticed a coppery gleam of red hair reflected by the moonlight and he grumbled internally as he had a good idea of who his aggressor was.

"Ouch. Hey that hurts. Can you let go of me please?" chimed Courtney.

"What the hell are you doing following me at six thirty in the morning?" huffed Talon as he released her from his arm lock. He did not appreciate being startled, even less so when the person doing the startling was someone he found unbearably irritating.

"Oh, I wasn't following you…I was you know… I like waking up early and feeling the morning breeze. Taking a walk when no one's around, you know that kind of thing." She stammered, seeming somewhat flustered and uncomfortable. She must have been worried about the final tryout and her impending struggle with Alanna and Sapphire.

"I've never seen you this early before and the morning breeze doesn't exist here in District 1. Our altitude is so low we almost never get any winds on any given day." he said suspiciously. What was wrong with this girl? Why was she lying about something as unimportant as to why she was taking a walk in the morning?

"Umm…This is the first time I came out, so I didn't know. Anyway, are you feeling ready for the final tryout?" she said hurriedly.

Talon knew that she was trying to redirect the discussion but he allowed it to slip anyway. "I'm ready. I have been for a long time. Today, I _will_ win my place as tribute for the Games." he said quietly, but assuredly.

"Oh wow! You're so confidant in yourself! That's really great. I hope you get in. I'm not so sure about my own trials. You see, Alanna and Sapphire take things way too seriously. The other day, I was braiding my hair and Sapphire looked at me like I was crazy or something. Can you believe her? I should just…." Courtney went on a long winded speech that Talon didn't care enough to follow. The instant he heard the word hair, he spaced out completely and didn't pay any attention to a single word she was saying. Thus, it came to him as a great surprise when she began tugging at his sleeves to try and catch his attention.

"Hello, earth to Talon. Are you there?" she giggled.

Talon sighed and replied, "Yeah, yeah, I'm here. What is it now?"

"I said that Jax got injured the day before yesterday. Aren't you listening to what I'm saying?" she pouted as she realized he had not heard a single word of what she was trying to tell him.

Talon's pulse quickened at her words as his mind rushed through the possibilities and consequences of Jax, his main competition, being ruled out of the final tryouts. "Are you sure? What kind of injury? How did it happen?" he asked.

"Oh, so you didn't know! Well, it does make sense. See I just heard about it yesterday night from my mother who knows his mother. They always go out together, have coffee. You know the kind of things…"

Talon groaned and interrupted her saying, "Courtney please, get to the point."

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, he was playing with his little sister and chasing her down the stairs when he tripped on a rug. Apparently, he fell badly on his knee and it shattered. It's so sad and here I was thinking about how I might ask him out later. Now he's probably not going to be any fun and will want to lie around in bed all day. Oh well..."

A small smile graced Talon's lips as, internally, his heart leapt for joy. A shattered knee was a serious condition leaving the sufferer incapable of normal motion for a minimum of 6 weeks. The training centre had also trained the potential tributes on how to treat fractures and minor bone injuries in case they happened in the arena. A shattered patella was one of the injuries that were ignored as, in the words of the instructor, "you can't treat it in less than a month and you can't even move so you'd best make peace with God if it happens". With the games less than two weeks away and Jax getting ruled out by this fortunate turn of events, Talon would have to fight the mêlée only with Roy over whom he knew he would have an overwhelming advantage due to them being permitted to choose their favorite weapons.

Talon looked over at Courtney who blushed as she saw him smiling at her. "Courtney, I'm not even sure I believe this, but you've actually made me really happy."

Courtney went a shade of red very similar to the color of her hair and she began to jump animatedly, "Really, really, are you serious? Wait a minute, what are you so happy with me for?"

Talon just shook his head at her stupidity and, noticing a ray of light on the wall, looked up at the sky. Bright beams of gold were painted across the sky which was now a dark, orange color. Dawn had broken a short while ago while Courtney was jabbering on and now it was probably around 7:30, high time he got back to the orphanage to have breakfast. The mêlée was scheduled to happen at noon sharp so he would have to prepare and warm up for the fight. The judges' panel was comprised of 3 former District 1 victors who represented different aspects of what was required from a tribute. These traits included physical prowess, mental ability and charisma. Traditionally, the winner of the mêlée was selected as tribute but not necessarily. If a tribute had been marginally beaten and displayed enough of the qualities required by a tribute, then it was not unheard of for them to be selected for tribute, hence the need for a judging panel. The first male member of the judging panel was a cunning cadaver of a man called Morgan Black. Morgan was one of the smallest, most fragile tributes to ever volunteer from District 1. Standing at barely 5 foot 8 and weighing about 130 pounds, no one had wanted to bet on him as his odds were abysmal for a volunteer from a Career district. However, his skill at manipulating his competitors, especially the Career pack, caused them to turn on each other and, once they were all weakened sufficiently, he massacred the remaining tributes with poison-stained knives. The second was a tall, dark skinned woman named Ariana Gold. Her main skill was with a halberd and she was charismatic beyond compare. Even the District 2 male volunteer, traditionally the leader of the Career pack, ceded his position to her after training. Once she had led them to victory over all the other tributes, an all-out brawl had broken out which she had emerged from victoriously with barely more than flesh wounds. The final and most enigmatic judge was the victor of the 16th Hunger Games, Marcus Lucius. He was a mystery even to his instructors at the training centre. Ever silent and impassive, they had barely coaxed a word out of him until the day of his final reaping when he declared his intention to volunteer. After beating out all of the other volunteers to the stage, he went on to the Capitol where he continued his emotionless front. The audience loved it and he was rewarded with a lethal, black Morningstar on the first day of the Games which he promptly used to batter all of his allies to death with after the bloodbath. After that it was only a matter of time before his victory was declared.

Thinking about the previous victors made him anxious for the time when he would also join these esteemed volunteers and he began to make his way through the streets, back to the cramped orphanage when he heard Courtney calling out disappointedly.

"Talon, where are you going? I thought we were going to relax and take some time together to hang out. Maybe we could go catch a movie before the final trials…"

Talon gritted his teeth together and barely kept himself from growling at her. This girl didn't know the meaning of unwanted. He was just trying to mind his own business and she showed up trying to waste his time with her ridiculous stories and idiotic questions. Talon do you think I should dye my hair blonde or brown? Talon do you think I should wear black or blue shoes to match with my blue necklace? It was enough to make anyone's blood boil. Well, soon enough he wouldn't have to deal with her nonsense as it was nearly impossible that she would beat out Sapphire, or even Alanna for that matter, in the final tryouts and he would soon be rid of her, provided he won his fight with Roy.

Talon dismissed Courtney with a curt wave of his hand and made his way back to the orphanage. The city had awoken from its long slumber by now and he could see the first signs of life growing in the streets. There was the miller's boy, opening up the shop to sell people their daily need of grain and flour. The town drunk and farmer, Aelstein was making his way along the street, calling out to the people of District 1 of how great the milk his cows had produced this fine morning. All around him were regular people, happy people, living their everyday lives who would never understand him, never know the pain that made him who he was. Losing his parents at a young age and suffering in his quest for survival in the slums of the city had made Talon a hard man and fighter. Harder than he would have wished upon anyone. Still, he would need to be if he were to gain revenge on the man who had maimed him and ruined his face. He knew that it probably was not healthy for him to allow such a painful moment to define his life and who he was, but he could not help the way he felt. Only retribution would calm the fires of anger that burned within him and he would not stop until he had it.

After about 10 minutes of jogging through the streets he arrived at the orphanage. It was a meager apartment and even looked like an orphanage from the front. With dark grey paint fading away at the sides of the doorway, it seemed an unwelcoming place which it was anything but. As he entered, he could hear the clanging of pots in the kitchen and he could smell the bread that Ruby was preparing for breakfast. Careful not to make too much sound in case the little ones were still asleep, he took off his shoes and made his way to the kitchen. He saw Ruby with her back to him, her white hair neat and tidied as usual. Even though she was an old lady by now, she still prided herself on looking as good as she possibly could.

"Good morning, Ma'am." he said as he took a seat at the round table situated in the centre of the kitchen.

"Now Talon, I've told you many times before. It's either Ruby or Mom. It's your choice." she said, smiling as she saw him hungrily awaiting his meal.

"Yes Ma'am Ruby." he said humorlessly. She was always so nice and warm to him but he could not bear to be close to her. If he took to calling her Mom like the other children, he would probably also start giving her hugs and kisses as well. She would become his mother in all but blood. And Talon didn't need a mother. What he needed was the focus and commitment to avenge the damage done to himself by the Mafioso and, to do that, he could not be bothered with trivial things like love and friendship hence the reason why he rebuffed, not only Ruby's advances, but Courtney's as well.

Ruby's face had a small, sad smile as she noted his refusal to call her by what she asked and placed his plate in front of him. The plate was filled with boiled eggs and toasted bread with cheese. Well, this was a first. They almost never had eggs and certainly not cheese on regular mornings. Usually they had to make do with toasted bread and some ground fruits. Ruby must have been saving money for this for a long time so she could provide him with a filling meal before his final tryouts. He felt a pang in his heart as he thought of all the ways she cared for him but he refused to even do a small thing such as call her Mom, which she fully deserved. He quickly quashed the feeling and began immersing himself in thoughts of the mêlée as he hastily ate his breakfast.

"Are the other children awake yet?" he asked.

"Not yet. I thought I'd give them a little rest today since school is delayed because of the final tryouts." In District 1, the selection of the tributes for the Games was greeted with great fanfare and excitement. This meant that there were countless holidays in celebration of the Games. One on the day of the selection, a whole fortnight during the Games themselves etc. Other districts accused them, as well as the other Career Districts, of being the Capitol's lapdogs and turning a blind eye to the injustice that it wreaked upon them. However, the Career Districts paid no heed to them. After all, the best thing to do in a bad situation is to make the most of it which the stubborn outer districts plainly refused to do. Their loss.

As Talon finished up his meal, he wiped a small napkin across his mouth and began to clean the area around his plate. At least no one could say that he didn't do his part in the household. Once he was done, he picked up his plate, placed it in the sink and began making his way to the washroom. After he had shaved, brushed his teeth and made himself completely presentable, he made his way to the door only to find Ruby waiting for him.

"Talon, you're like a son to me and, although I know you don't see me in the same way, I just wanted to wish you luck before you left and give you a token for luck. If you do get selected as tribute, I hope you'll accept it as your official tribute token for the arena." Ruby held out a small, blue wristband emblazoned with some kind of picture sewed upon it. As he took it in his hand, he looked closer at it and saw a snarling wolf with its jaw opened in a fearsome roar.

"Thank you Ruby. It's perfect." he said quietly. The wolf was a perfect sigil for him to take. Speed, ferocity and courage—they were the trademarks of his fighting style and he hoped they would be enough to make him a serious contender for the Games.

As he exited the orphanage, he noticed that the sun was a lot higher in the sky than it had been before. The streets were much brighter than before and the number of people in the street had multiplied. He stepped into the warm light of the street and began making his way to the training centre. It was a large building, directly opposite to the Justice Building to illustrate its importance to the people of District 1 and how they revered their volunteers and victors. It was simply another aspect of being a Career district and, planning not to be outdone by District 2 or 4, the mayor had spent a large sum of money endowing the training centre with all it required to continue churning out competent tributes.

After about 20 minutes of walking, he turned a right on the main street to find the training centre, in all its majesty, in front of him. Looking at it from the outside, one would not be able to tell that it was a place to learn the arts of war and death. One would think that it was home to some sort of gallery or arts program. It had large wooden doors, made of the finest oak, adorned with circular knobs of steel to open the doors. Its windows were made of coloured glass in colors ranging throughout the spectrum and including vivid shades of purple and turquoise which allowed beautiful rainbows to appear inside the training centre as the light streamed in from the outside. It was simply a marvel of a building. How fitting it was that in this hallowed place that he would accomplish his goals.

Talon entered the building and immediately made his way to the main training area. Apparently he was the first one here. At 9:30, he assumed that he would find others in here practicing but no one must want to be tribute as much as he did. The thought comforted him as he went over to the spears stand and pulled out a small myrmidon spear. Seeing as his skill with dual swords was incredibly high, he opted to practice with a weapon he was not as proficient with in case he did not find his favored _gladiī_ in the arena. He also collected a shield with a half oval curve at its tip to go with the spear and began his training regime. Imagining that he was surrounded by multiple enemies, he twisted and turned, dodged and twirled, stabbed and speared with increasing speed as he whipped himself into a frenzy. He held his shield up to his torso, placed the spear on top of the opening and began to stab forward, envisaging that he was fighting a sword wielding opponent who would be helpless before this manoeuvre. He practiced more and more tactics until he was sure that he could reasonably hold his own against any foe wielding any type of weapon. As Talon was finishing his practice, he heard a soft murmuring sound behind him. He turned to see that not only had the other tribute trainees had arrived, but the judging panel as well. They had all been observing him silently and he could see Ariana Gold whisper to the inscrutable Marcus Lucius who acknowledged what she was saying with a silent nod of the head.

Talon went to put his weapons back where they belonged and strode over to where the other tribute trainees were standing. Noticing that Jax was missing amongst them, he masked a grin by stroking his face with his palm, as if he were feeling his scar again.

Morgan Black stood up slowly from the table that he and the other judges were assigned to take notes and watch the tributes display their skills. "Seeing as the boys are missing one of their number, I'd like the girls to go first. Pick any weapon you like and on my count of three, you may begin." he barked authoritatively.

Courtney, Alanna and Sapphire each made their way to different sections of the room as they collected their weapons. Of course the weapons were dulled and not sharp enough to induce permanent damage. The only problem was with weapons that utilized the user's strength to batter and break an opponent like Sapphire's mace. The instructors had come up with the excellent solution of increasing the weight of the weapons to make it harder for tributes to wield them lethally. As it stood, the mace that Sapphire was holding would be difficult for Talon to hold forget about wield effectively. Hence, the weapon would still demonstrate the tribute's strength to the judges without the possibility of permanent injury to the opponents.

Once the girls had collected their weapons, they stood in a triangle awaiting the signal to begin. Sapphire had a look of anticipation on her face, as if to say that she was born to do this. Alanna and Courtney were slightly wearier, but Talon noted that Courtney had an intense look of determination on her face and he wondered whether he had been wrong to write her off in the first place.

At Morgan's signal, the girls scattered and darted around and towards each other. Sapphire almost grazed Alanna's chest with the first swing of her mace, a blow which would almost certainly knock her out of the mêlée. She retaliated by slashing at Sapphire's face with her short blades and managing to nick her chin. Courtney, on the other hand, had sneaked behind Alanna and slashed at her calves. Alanna, noticing the danger of fighting both of her opponents simultaneously, dodged away from them both and retreated a distance about 5 metres. Sapphire flicked her mace at Courtney who sidestepped the blow and struck back at her, knives flashing in the bright light as they made contact with Sapphire's left wrist. Sapphire growled as her wrist began to swell and bleed as a result of the blow and struck harder at Courtney only for her to somersault backwards and fire one of the knives she had at her belt at Alanna which took her by surprise. The knife's handle hit her straight on her temple and she collapsed unconscious by the blow. Talon's heart pounded as he realized that it was only Courtney and Sapphire now. He hadn't expected her to make it this far, let alone eliminate the other contestant. She might even make it against Sapphire.

The two girls circled each other warily, Courtney aware that Sapphire could easily crush her in close-range combat and Sapphire hesitant to engage Courtney quickly due to her being much slower. They struck a couple of half-hearted blows at each other until Courtney, realizing her advantage, began to press harder at Sapphire. A feint to the torso followed by a rapid salvo of blows to the calves left Sapphire with minor injuries on both legs as well as the cut on her wrist as she struggled to regain control of the fight. She was growing visibly more frustrated as she had expected to take Courtney easily. She did not expect her to fight back and give as good as she got. No one had.

Suddenly, Courtney fired a knife at Sapphire's head, who gasped and ducked to avoid the blade. As Sapphire stooped, Courtney was already in the air, jumping and latching onto Sapphire's shoulders and back. She quickly scampered upwards towards Sapphire's neck and began applying pressure there. However, she had made the mistake of underestimating Sapphire's physical prowess and close range ability. Sapphire's arms were long, long enough to grab her and slam her into the ground. While Courtney choked and tried to recover from the hit, Sapphire was already upon her, grabbing her in a stranglehold and slowly suffocating her until she was blue in the face and yielded. Sapphire threw her to the ground and raised her arms in victory. It had not been easy but she had emerged victorious and was almost guaranteed to be tribute in the next Games. This was confirmed when Ariana approached her, shook her hand and congratulated her on becoming the next tribute for District 1. Medics came rushing in, stretchered Alanna out and helped Courtney to her feet, who now had tears in her eyes. Talon wondered why she had fought the way she did. No one had expected her to be so fierce or to be so upset when she lost. Maybe, just maybe, there was more to the happy-go-lucky girl who had trained with him for over five years. His thoughts were interrupted by Morgan who called on both boys to prepare themselves for battle.

Talon picked up his two _gladiī _and looked eagerly at Roy to see which weapon he had selected. This was his only disadvantage. The fact that Roy could choose any weapon meant that he could not prepare for anything specific and had to prepare for one of many different types of fighting style. Amazingly enough, Roy had chosen a large claymore to fight with. Its length was almost as tall as Talon and he figured that Roy had probably chosen it to try and keep distance between him and Talon. A poor choice as Talon had the speed and agility to weave around his blows and get close enough to rain blows upon Roy. The two boys circled each other, neither wanting to make the first move but Talon knew that if he wanted to be tribute, he had to be the one to take the initiative.

Talon darted closer, swinging his right sword at Roy's chest as he approached. Roy barely deflected the blow as his sword's length was detrimental in close combat. He stumbled backwards, off-balance as Talon continued to press his advantage and push Roy towards one of the walls. After about a minute of Talon attacking and Roy countering, Roy stepped backward and used his superior range to deliver a crunching blow to Talon's left thigh. Talon gasped as he felt a searing pain in his leg that told him his femur had probably been bruised or, at worst, suffered a fracture. Roy, noticing Talon's weakness, swung his blade in a vicious uppercut, seeking to end the fight with one blow but Talon was still too agile for that. He dodged to the right and swung both of his blades at the claymore's hilt, knocking it out of Roy's hands and clattering into the ground. Roy's hands went up to his head as Talon raised his blades to his throat and gasped painfully "Yield, Roy."

"I yield, I yield." came the reluctant reply.

Talon collapsed to his knees as soon as he was sure of his victory and clutched at his thigh. Either the adrenaline was numbing him to the pain or the injury was not as bad as he had feared as he could barely feel anything but an overwhelming elation as Marcus approached him. Marcus put a hand to his shoulder and said, "That was a good fight son. When you rise, you shall no longer be Talon, tribute trainee for the 31st Hunger Games. You shall rise as Talon, tribute and, God willing, victor of the 31st Hunger Games."


	4. Confusion

_**Author's Note: Hey everyone. To the people who are following this story, I'm sorry I haven't updated until now. As I mentioned in an earlier note, I'm in university so I've been busy with that and honestly, sometimes I don't feel motivated to write quickly and meet deadlines. I enjoy writing and do it gladly, but because no one is reviewing or giving me the impression that they are enjoying the story and looking forward to following chapters, I take my sweet time doing it. If I knew that people were waiting on me to write, then I would probably feel that bit more driven and guilty to write faster and update. This is not blackmail to review. I will write regardless of whether or not people review but this is just to let you guys know that if you enjoy the story and want me to update faster, then you'll probably have to start giving me that impression. Anyway, sorry for the long A/N and here is the next chapter of "A Dirge for Courage".**_

Talon shuffled his feet restlessly as he stood amongst the people of District 1 awaiting the Reaping for the 31st Hunger Games. As was customary, the citizens of the district had to endure at least an hour of Mayor Onyx droning on about the benefits and necessity of the Hunger Games. _The great Capitol liberated us from our own greed and evil. They have bestowed countless blessings upon us and all they ask from us in return is to provide two of our finest warriors with the chance to become nationwide champions. Truly it is an honor to serve such as a kind and benevolent master._ Bakh, the pompous liar. Mayor Onyx wouldn't know honor if it slapped him in the face. Talon had personally met the overweight, two-faced man when his parents had died, leaving him an orphan. Not that the mayor had cared much for his plight. 'Throw him in one of the orphanages or a foster home if you feel sorry for him,' he had said, not aware that the boy was listening and committing to memory his every word. Where was honor when he was a starving, young orphan being brutally attacked in the street? Where was honor when an orphan becomes someone's responsibility only for them to treat them like a stray dog to find a home for? So for that bloated, loaded frog to stand on the podium and preach to them of _honor_ made Talon's blood boil. He clenched his fists angrily and tried to calm himself. As if his intimidating scar was not enough, the last thing he would need is seem angry and closed to the Capitol public. He would need their money to help him survive the Games and no one wanted to sponsor a rebellious and bitter hothead.

Finally, the mayor finished his long-winded speech and seemed a little winded himself. Not that the audience noticed. They were too busy cheering and clapping, oblivious to the fact that they were celebrating a sacrifice of at least one of their youngest and most talented fighters to a needless slaughter. Their chanting and applauding slowly died down as the Capitol anthem played announcing the movie detailing the Treaty of Treason. Talon had no particular love for the Capitol and its Games unlike most of the other citizens. He only saw them as a means to an end to achieve his vengeance so he did not bother raising his hands to clap with the other idiots of the District.

As the mayor stepped away from the podium on the platform, the Capitol escort stepped forward. The escort, a skeleton thin woman named Rosie, was an air-headed bimbo who annually wore the strangest of clothes to the Reapings. Today Rosie was wearing a bright pink top streaked with black and red along the arms as well as a skirt colored a disgusting shade of yellow not very different from the color of bile. On her head, she wore a fur skin bonnet under which her blonde hair framed her face which was caked with makeup and a nauseatingly orange lipstick. Curiously, she always managed to start a trend in District 1 despite the obvious discomfort her clothes put her in and their unappealing colors which often clashed with each other. Talon put it down to the fact that the District was made up of simpletons who were obsessed with looking like everyone else and following what was _in _and what was _cool_. He shook his head at them and strained his ears to catch what Rosie was saying.

"…And so, ladies and gents, that's why we have the Hunger Games!" Rosie cried, "And now, without further ado, we can move on to the selection of our 31st Hunger Games tributes! Ladies first!"

Talon glanced at the 18 year old section and caught sight of Sapphire and Alanna standing together. Alanna had a sullen, bitter look on her face as she knew that she would never enter the Hunger Games. She was so close, but yet so far. In contrast, Sapphire had a triumphant smile on her face as she was no doubt contemplating her participation and subsequent victory over him and the other tributes. Well, she shouldn't get ahead of herself. Although he would have preferred to have someone weaker as his competition like Alanna or Courtney, he had learnt quite a bit from the final tryouts about Sapphire's weaknesses. For all her faults, Courtney had fought bravely and came close to victory as she almost overwhelmed Sapphire with small but numerous injuries which reduced her fighting capabilities. He had to remember to thank Courtney for that if he came back as a victor. Speaking of Courtney, he looked around, expecting to see her at the very back of the 17 year old section for girls playing with her hair or something when, to his surprise, he noticed her standing at the very front. She had an odd, serious expression on her face which did not suit her personality. It was all very strange and he wondered what was going on. Did Rosie reap someone from her family? No, she was still making her way towards the glass bowls which contained the potential tribute names for girls and had not yet picked out a slip so what was making Courtney so tense? He had no time to ponder the issue anymore as he heard Rosie's annoyingly high pitched voice ring out in the square.

"Orchid Price!"

Talon turned towards where Sapphire was standing, anticipating her declaration of her intent to volunteer and saw her proudly opening her mouth to say the words…

"I VOLUNTEER!" A voice blared out from the other side of the square before the reaped girl could even make herself known, causing shock to spread throughout the square. Talon turned to see none other than Courtney rushing her way towards the platform, taking the stairs three at a time in her hurry to get there first. He didn't understand what was happening and, apparently, no one in the audience did either. They were all aware of the selected trainees to volunteer and stood stunned at this new turn of events. Out of the corner of his eye, Talon could see Sapphire glaring murderously at Courtney who seemed somewhat nervous and blanching under the hostile glares she was receiving from her and other members of the audience. What made it all the worse was that this act of betrayal of District custom was now irreversible. The District could not afford to give the Capitol solid evidence that they were training specific people to volunteer as it was illegal to do so. Of course the Capitol knew all about it unofficially, but they would only accept it if it remained under the covers and out of the public eye so Sapphire could do nothing about Courtney stealing her place. Rosie, being a Capitolite and unaware of who was the real tribute, just assumed that Courtney was the selected tribute and began to offer her the microphone as she was introducing her.

"So what's your name dear?" she asked with an oblivious look of joy on her face as she took in Courtney's toned legs and arms as well as her good looks.

"My…my name's Courtney." Courtney stuttered back at her, obviously still a little shaken up at what she had seen from the crowd.

"Welcome Courtney and good luck. Well, now all that's left is the male volunteer. Get ready for it ladies and gentlemen, this year is looking good already." With that Rosie moved to the other glass bowl and stuck her hand in it, pulling out a small slip with her. Talon tensed and bent his knees as he readied himself to fight his way to the platform in case there was a repeat of Courtney's little stunt. Rosie glanced at the name and called out, "Jay Williams!"

Talon burst forward, yelling, "I volunteer!" as he ran. He pushed another boy into the ground and accelerated up the stairs not slowing until he was almost upon Rosie.

"Oh my, we've got a feisty…Eek! Uhm…so ladies and gentlemen..." Rosie flinched and yelped as she took in Talon's scarred face and quickly tried to cover up her faux pas. She turned Talon and Courtney towards the audience and raised both of their arms in the air "Overall, I think, based on our two excellent tributes, this year's the year for District 1. Whaddya say folks?"

A chorus of boos greeted her as the citizens of District 1 gazed upon their two tributes. In their eyes, they saw a pitiful, disfigured orphan and a thief who had stolen another's rightful place. There was no love lost between Talon and District 1, but this was the first time a district's tributes were jeered as they were selected so this was a new low, even for them. Of course some of the vitriol was directed at Courtney who was doing her best not to show the tears in her eyes as she looked out at her neighbors, her friends and her family all shouting abuse and venom at her. Talon was less concerned with what the District was doing and more with what had possessed Courtney to volunteer as tribute. Didn't she realize that this would happen, that the whole district would hate her? As Rosie motioned for them to do the customary handshake, he looked into her bright, emerald eyes pointing a question at her. _Why Courtney? Why?_ She just shook her head in sadness and bowed her face as they were led by a squadron of white clad peacekeepers to the Justice Building to give their final goodbyes. They stopped at a door with a panel inscribed in capital grey letters **MALE TRIBUTE** and Talon was shoved unceremoniously inside onto a lavishly carpeted floor. He heard the door slam behind him and looked up to see Ruby, smiling down at him as she offered him her hand.

"Well son, you've gotten what you wanted. I hope it turns out to your expectations." Ruby told him unhappily as she helped him up from the floor.

"You know why I have to do this. The police told you the day you adopted me what happened that night." Talon replied firmly.

"I know. I know...Even though I don't agree with what you're doing, I'm not going to waste possibly the last 3 minutes I have with you." Ruby said with tears glistening in her eyes. "I just wanted to tell you that I love you like a son, and that, even if you come back a victor with a shiny new house in the Village, you'll always have a place in my home and heart."

Ruby suddenly threw her arms around his neck and clung tightly to him. Talon's throat constricted as he fought to keep tears from springing to his eyes and he rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Thank you…Mom. I won't ever forget all that you've done for me and, once I come back, I'll make sure that you and the other children all get to live comfortably with me in the Victor's Village. It's the least I can do after everything that you've done for me." He sniffed and rubbed his eyes on his sleeve trying to stop his eyes from clouding. It would not do for the sponsors in the Capitol to see him bawling his eyes out after being reaped.

They stood there, in a comfortable silence as they enjoyed each other's company until a peacekeeper roughly banged the door open and called, "Time's up. Let's go Miss."

Ruby took one last look at Talon, stroked his face where his scar traced a line across his cheek and whispered, "Be safe my son". With that she left and the only thing anchoring Talon to District 1 was gone.

He shifted in his place and went across the room towards the couch which had been arranged for tributes to sit and wait till they were called upon. He put his head in his hands and thought about what awaited him in the Capitol. He thought about the other tributes and whether his skill would be enough to make him the victor of these Games. Thinking of the other tributes led him to Courtney and he, once again, pondered why she had done what she did. She had never displayed a genuine interest in the Games despite her skill with the knife and he thought that she came to training more because of the boys rather than the chance to become tribute. Looking back, he realized that there were many things that simply didn't add up. The way Courtney had fought like a tiger in the final tryouts, the utter look of devastation on her face when she had finally lost and the serious, determined expression on her face right before the girl tribute was reaped. All of those things pointed to the fact that something strange was happening and foreshadowed her volunteering. The only problem was he had no idea why she did those things. He supposed he would have to ask her but he doubted she'd give him a real answer.

Talon was jerked out of his thoughts when another squadron of four peacekeepers entered the room and stood silently awaiting him to get up. He shook himself as he got up, trying to shake the feeling of unease he had about Courtney's volunteering and the Games, and made his way towards the door. As he walked, the peacekeepers took up a formation with two ahead and two behind him. It was undoubtedly to prevent him from trying to run away, as was common in the outer districts, but it was hardly necessary in a Career district, much less when the tribute in question had volunteered to participate in the Games. Left, left, right, left they went, following a path unknown to Talon that they seemed to have memorized when, suddenly, they found themselves in front of an open door facing large train tracks. As they exited the building, bright rays of light began flashing at Talon with a distinct _chink_ sounding simultaneously with the flashes. He realized that the Games had already begun and the Capitol was getting their first view of District 1's volunteers after the Reaping.

Talon flashed smiles towards the cameras', emphasizing the right side of his face as to not intimidate the viewers and, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Courtney emerge from a similar entrance and make her way towards the tracks where a huge train awaited them. He had never seen anything like it before. An imposing behemoth of steel and black paint, it towered above them and threatened to engulf them completely with its shadow. A small ramp led up to its entrance which was located slightly behind the front of the train and was as dark as an abyss. It appeared as if no lights had been switched on and Talon felt uneasy as he contemplated walking through those doors. It reminded him of the gaping mouth of a beast and he felt as if he was walking right into it. As he and Courtney approached, he motioned to her to go ahead of him. She seemed to have composed herself slightly as her eyes appeared to be dry and he bowed and gestured forward as if to say "ladies first_"_. It would never hurt for the female population of the Capitol to be impressed with his chivalry and manners. She smiled sweetly, apparently she had not been completely out of it when the trainers in the centre were explaining to them how to win over the Capitol viewers, and walked past him into the train where he swiftly followed her.

Once they had both entered, a glass door slid behind him almost silently locking them into the train. Despite this, the interior seemed to be welcoming enough. A beautiful red carpet shielded their feet from the floor and motion-sensitive lights had switched on as they had come in. He saw Courtney begin to walk through the corridor and he grabbed her before she could get very far. As he turned her so she was facing him, he saw her face in an unexpectedly hostile expression, her bright green eyes boring into his own.

"What is it? What do you want?" she said defensively as she shrugged his arm off.

"What I want is for you to explain to me what the hell you're doing! You weren't supposed to be the volunteer for this year. Why did you steal Sapphire's place?" Talon yelled in her face, unable to keep in his emotions any longer.

"It's none of your business. I did what I had to do." she replied curtly and made to turn and continue down the path.

Talon slipped past her and blocked her way before she could make a single movement. "Uh-uh. The hell it's not my business. You're my partner now in the Games. I need to be able to trust you or we're both done for."

Courtney sighed as she realized that she wouldn't get anywhere without giving him an answer. "If I tell you why I volunteered, will you let me through so we can get to our mentors and actually focus on the Games?"

"Fine." he huffed, confused by her surprisingly submissive stance.

Courtney leaned past his face, put her lips to his ear and whispered, "I stole Sapphire's place and volunteered for the Games because of one reason." her voice dropped even lower, "I have a great debt that I must pay."

With that, she glided past him, leaving him shocked and bewildered in her wake. He wanted to grab her and shake more meaningful answers out of her but she was long gone now and was probably about to reach the mentor's cabin. It would probably not be a good idea for him to antagonize them by fighting with his partner barely five minutes after they had entered the Games. He stared back through the hatch from which they had entered and noticed the faint outline of the district fading away, and he wondered what was waiting for him in these games of destiny and deceit.


End file.
